Felipe Bentley
Felipe Trey Bentley (born September 21, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter from Miamo Florida. Active since 2008, he has released one album, Felipe Bentley, in 2009, and plans for a sophomore release in June 2011. History Early life Felipe Trey Bentley was born to Trey Bentley, of Caucasian descent, and Estefania Fernandez, of Hispanic descent; he was named after his father, Trey, and his grandfather, Felipe. An only child, his immediate family struggled financially and maintained a lower middle-classed lifestyle throughout the majority of his childhood. Career Beginnings & Felipe Bentley (2008-2010) It was not until the age of fourteen, that Bentley found his passion for music, as he picked up the acoustic guitar and taught himself to play it, and, by his fifteenth birthday (also his first performance), he'd received many compliments regarding his acquired skill. It was around this time he became very serious with playing music, and so he began playing wherever he could, as frequently as possible, including venues and school events. Within as little as a month, Bentley had gained over 250 views a day on his MySpace music page. In late October, he was called up by Jonathan Wreckway, who had happened to come upon his MySpace page, and was asked to auditon for a major-label singing to Wreckway Records. The audition went well, and he was signed the same day. Bentley announced that he had, over the past few months, written a pretty good amount of material, and the Wreckway liked it enough to record some of it, with very little altercation in the process. The album's recording was done throughout three weeks in November 2008, almost immediately after Bentley was signed. The album, titled Felipe Bentley, was given an April 2009 release date, and the lead single, "How About Tonight", was released December 22, 2008. "How About Tonight" debuted at #95 in February and quickly climbed the charts to its peak in the U.S., #8, by March. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The second single, "Believe Me", was released March 31, 2009, though it was not as successful as its predecessor, managing #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and certified Gold. The album, Felipe Bentley, was released April 12, 2009, and debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, eventually selling over 2,000,000 copies. The third single, "Love Is a Strong Word (So I'm Not Gonna Use It)", featuring American entertainer Stephen DeHolles, was released June 15, 2009, and is his most popular to date, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and selling over 2 million copies for a 2x Platinum certification in the U.S. This prompted the fourth single, "Don't Care", released October 2, 2009, which was Platinum-ceritified for a narrow Top 10 peak (at #10). A fifth and final single, "Whoa", was released January 9, 2010, and was the least successful from the album, peaking at #63 on the Hot 100 and failing to certify. Second album (2010-present) Throughout the half of 2010 was the 2009-2010 Felipe Tour, a year-long world tour from July 2009 through July 2010, and was filled with singles released by other artists that Bentley had been featured in. In an August 2010 interview, Bentley admitted to being too exhausted to immediately start on a second album, and so he planned to take a three month break from music-related work. Throughout November and December Bentley wrote the material for his follow up, and the recording was complete by February 2011. The first single from the album, "Girl, I Wanna" was released March 11, 2011, and has debuted at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received rave reviews from music critics. The album, as of now untitled, is planned to be released June 1, 2011. Discography Albums *''Felipe Bentley'' (2009) *''TBA'' (2011)